The Minimum wage is the lowest amount a worker can be paid per hour. The very first minimum wage law passed in New Zealand in 1894. Since 1938 it has changes 22 times. Today the minimum wage is 7 dollars and 25 cents. Now people are arguing to raise the minimum wage to 10 dollars and 10 cents. This is a complicated problem because although the minimum wage workers will be payed more, where is that money coming from?

In this paper you will learn about how consistent the minimum wage has been, if they are pushing it up too far, and how many people are really affected by this.

First of all, the United States minimum wage has been very consistent lately, so why change it now? The minimum wage hasn’t changed in six years. Next, there are governors raising the minimum wage of their state. There is no point of raising it nation wide if the states can just change it on their own. Alaska, Arkansas, Nebraska, and South Dakota all increases their minimum wages as of last year. Lastly, some states are already pushing it up too far. In Arkansas, the minimum wage was 7 dollars and 50 cents and reached 8 dollars and hour, on January first, 2016. But the republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, was in favor for the push, until it was wanted to be pushed all the way up to 12 dollars an hour.

Second, they are already pushing it up too far. Although Obama, and many other governors want to raise the minimum wage, not all businesses can afford it. This will force small businesses to shut down. They also want it to be raised too much. Some people want the minimum to be changed to 15 dollars an hour, especially in fast food chains. Lastly, they consumers are already paying a lot of money. In July 2009, employees were paid 7 dollars and 25 cents (the current minimum wage). Consumers spent 5.6 billion dollars. Imagine how much they would spend if the minimum wage was raised to 10 dollars and 10 cents. The employers need to get their money from somewhere, so they will just raise the cost of the product.

Lastly, how many people are affected by it? Not many people are really affected by the minimum wage. From the article, Understanding how raising the Federal Minimum wage affects income inequality and economic growthby: Heather Boushey. “ The Economy Policy Institute estimates that if Washington increased minimum to $10.10 as Obama would like, some 21.3 million employees would eventually be granted a raise, assuming they kept their jobs.” Only 21.3 million people out of the 318.9 million people living in the United States (as of 2014). That leaves 297.6 million people not affected. There aren’t even that many minimum wage workers. Bureau of Labor statistics stated 1.57 million Americans earned minimum wage in 2012.Most minimum wage jobs are starting jobs; practically no one spends their whole life flipping burgers.

In conclusion the minimum wage should not be changed. Although almost ? of the minimum wage workers are teens probably saving up for college, they don’t need to buy a house and take care of children. It should not be expensive to hire entry level workers. Imagine you finally got a raise from minimum wage (7 dollars and 25 cents) to 10 dollars and 10 cents. Then the minimum wage goes up to 10 dollars and 10 cents. Now your co-workers, who don’t work as hard as you, are now getting payed the same amount as you. Wouldn’t that make you angry? You would probably want your income to be greater now too. Then because your salary is increasing the people getting payed more than you want to get a raise too, and soon, everyone just wants a raise. To change the results of this, just work harder for the raise that you want. If your boss doesn’t want to give you a raise, then just find a better paying job. Don’t make all of the products that you like to use get more expensive by raising the minimum wage.